In an attempt to attract more subscribers, France Telecom is offering new BiBop Telepoint customers six months free of charge if they sign up by January 31; the six monthly fees add up to about $80; although such a move would seem to indicate lack of consumer interest, the operator insists that it will have 80,000 subscribers by year-end, but the French press has been highly critical of the level of service, saying that the signal gets repeatedly cut off, much to the annoyance of the caller; the stories appeared at about the time that the operator opened BiBop service in the northern metropolitan area of Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing.
